Color-fast and high-crocking combination fabric and method for making the same

ABSTRACT

A color-fast and high-crocking combination fabric and methods for making the same. The color-fast and high-crocking fabric consists of dyed natural fibers and dyed polyester fibers. The natural and polyester fibers are dyed and/or colored before being combined into yarns and fabrics. The color-fast and high-crocking combination fabric has very high color-fastness as measured by crocking standard, while maintaining a quality hand feel. The color fastness can withstand at least thirty regular cold-temperature home-wash laundries.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/900,307, filed on Nov. 5, 2013, the entire contents of which areherein incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to textiles and fabrics, and,more particularly, to environmentally friendly fabrics having a highcrocking standard, long-lasting color fastness, and quality hand feel.

In the textile industry, two considerations for manufacturers whenproducing fabrics are color-fastness, crocking standard, and quality offeel, i.e., hand feel. These three considerations often act at odds withone another, with those fabrics having a great hand feel lacking incolor-fastness and/or high crocking, and vice versa. Regardingcolor-fastness, there is particularly a lot of discussion and demand inthe clothing industry for high-quality apparel that maintains colorfastness, in particular for black apparel that resists fading. Recentsurveys indicate that, on average, about 30-40% of a woman's closet isblack.

A common concern for casualwear and sportswear is how to keep ormaintain the color of the clothing without fading, crocking, andbleeding after washing. Certain textile producers use chemicaltreatments to increase color-fastness and crocking, but this comes atthe expense of hand feel. Those fabrics that yield a high-quality handfeel often have the problems of crocking, color fastness, and shedding.

It can readily be appreciated that there is a need for a fabric having ahigh crocking standard while still maintaining color fastness and ahigh-quality hand feel. The present invention fulfills this need andprovides further related advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention may be embodied in a method comprising coloringand/or dyeing natural fibers and polyester fibers; placing thecolored/dyed natural fibers and the colored polyester fibers in apicking line; creating a plurality of combined ropes consistingessentially of the colored/dyed natural fibers and the colored/dyedpolyester fibers; and spinning the plurality of combined ropes intoyarns. The polyester fibers may be a recycled polyester fiber, and thenatural fibers may be a natural wood fiber. In one aspect of thisembodiment, the yarn may have a crocking standard of at least 4.0.

In another aspect of this embodiment, spinning the plurality of combinedropes into a yarn comprises spinning the plurality of combined ropesinto a plurality of warp yarns and a plurality of weft yarns. The methodmay further comprise joining the plurality of warp yarns and theplurality of weft yarns into a fabric. In a further aspect, theplurality of the warp yarns may comprise at least 50% to at least 70%colored/dyed natural fibers, and the plurality of the weft yarns maycomprise at least 30% to at least 50% colored/dyed polyester fiber. Inyet a further aspect, the warp yarns may comprise approximately 65%colored/dyed natural fibers and approximately 35% colored/dyed polyesterfibers, and the weft yarns may comprise approximately 65% colored/dyedpolyester fibers and approximately 35% colored/dyed natural wood fibers.

The present invention may also be embodied in a yarn consistingessentially of a polyester fiber and a natural fiber, wherein thepolyester fiber and the natural fiber are colored/dyed as fibers beforebeing joined into a yarn. The polyester fiber may be a recycledpolyester fiber, and the natural fiber may be a natural wood fiber. Inone aspect of this embodiment, the yarn may have a crocking standard ofat least 4.0.

The present invention may also be embodied in a fabric consistingessentially of a warp yarn consisting essentially of polyester fiber andnatural fiber; and a weft yarn consisting essentially of polyester fiberand natural fiber, wherein the warp yarn has at least 50% naturalfibers, and the weft yarn has at least 50% polyester fibers. In afurther aspect, the warp yarns may comprise at least 65% natural fibers,and the weft yarns may comprise at least 65% polyester fibers. Thepolyester fiber may be a recycled polyester fiber, and the natural fibermay be a natural wood fiber. The yarn itself may already have acolor-fast characteristic due to the coloring/dyeing of the natural andpolyester fibers prescribed in the paragraphs above in this section. Theyarn may then be further developed into fabric for consumer apparel orindustrial use. The resulting fabric/garment can maintain color fastnesswithout bleeding for at least thirty regular cold-temperature home-washlaundries.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way ofexample only, with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 provides an image of warp and weft yarns woven into a color-fastcombination fabric, in accordance with an aspect of an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 provides a flowchart for a color-fast combination fabric methodin accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention may reside in combination yarns and a combinationfabric comprising natural and polyester fibers. Both the natural andpolyester fibers are dyed as fibers, before they are combined into yarnswhich then can be knit or woven into fabrics. This process of dying thefibers rather than the yarns or fabrics provides increasedcolor-fastness and higher crocking standard to the end product. Thenatural fiber is used to create a high-quality hand feel that is notavailable with a polyester fiber, while the polyester fiber provides theadded advantage of increased color-fastness that is presently notavailable with natural fibers. Although the present disclosure willdiscuss the invention with respect to black fabrics composed of blacknatural fibers and black polyester fibers, it will be understood thatthe present invention may be applied to encompass fabrics of any color,such as Forever White, Red, Grey, Blue, etc.

The natural fiber component of the combination fabric may comprise adyed wood fiber. An example of a current such product is the LenzingModal (R) COLOR fiber in black. Crocking standard is a standard ofmeasure that may be used to measure the color-fastness of a fabric orfiber, with 5.0 being the highest color-fastness. The black LenzingModal fiber offers a fine hand-feel similar to silk. However, the blackModal fiber offers a dry crocking standard between 3.5 and 4.0 and a wetcrocking standard between 2.5 and 3.0, which are only average in termsof crocking performance. The wood fiber fabric, made from wood pulpmaterial, offers the added advantage of being an environmentallyfriendly product.

The polyester fiber component of the combination fabric may comprise arecycled polyester fiber. One such product is the Repreve polyesterfiber made by Unifi, Inc. This fiber has a high crocking standardbetween 4.0 and 5.0. This recycled polyester fiber also offers the addedadvantage of being an environmentally friendly product.

The natural fibers and polyester fibers are combined into a combinationyarn. The combination yarn is made of a combination of the natural woodfiber and the polyester fiber. In one embodiment, the fibers may becombined such that the composition ratio of natural fiber to polyesterfiber comprises greater than 50% polyester. In a presently preferredembodiment, the preferred warp-yarn ratio is approximately 65% naturalwood (Modal) and approximately 35% polyester fiber. The weft-yarn ratiois approximately 65% polyester fiber and 35% natural wood (Modal) fiber.The combination of the black Lenzing Modal COLOR fiber with the blackRepreve polyester fiber in the presently preferred 65/35 warp ratio and35/65 weft ratio results in a crocking standard between 4.0-5.0, whichis difficult to achieve in the apparel industry, while maintaining thesilk-like hand feel of the Lenzing Modal fiber. This combination yarnmay be used on its own to create a fabric, or combined with other yarnsto create a fabric, as will be described in greater detail below.

The present invention may also be embodied in a color-fast fabriccomprising the color-fast combination yarn discussed above. Yarns aregenerally woven or knit into fabrics. An example of yarns woven into acolor-fast fabric 10 is demonstrated in FIG. 1. The color-fastcombination fabric 10 may consist of a single type of yarn, such as thecombination yarn described above, or multiple different types of yarns.In one embodiment, as depicted in FIG. 1, the color-fast fabric may 10consist of warp yarns 12 and weft yarns 14, the warp yarns 12 and theweft yarns 14 each consisting essentially of natural and polyesterfibers, as described above. The warp yarns 12 and the weft yarns 14 mayhave different polyester fiber/natural fiber content ratios. In oneembodiment, the warp yarns 12 may have a high natural-wood fiber contentof greater than 50%, as described in the color-fast combination yarndescribed above, while the weft yarns 14 have a higher polyester fibercontent. In a presently preferred embodiment, the warp yarns 12 have anatural-wood fiber content of at least 50%, while the weft yarns 14 havea polyester fiber content of at least 50%. In yet a further preferredembodiment, the warp yarns 12 have a natural fiber content ofapproximately 65% modal (natural wood fiber) and approximately 35%polyester, while the weft yarns 14 have a polyester fiber content of atleast 65%. As discussed above with respect to the color-fast combinationyarn, the color-fast fabric 10 maintains quality hand-feel whileproviding superior color-fastness. The combination fabric 10 alsoincreases the life of the fabric, as it sheds less than natural fibersand has better tear and tensile strength.

The present invention may also be embodied in a method for creating acombination fabric. FIG. 2 provides a flow-chart representation of acolor-fast combination method 100. The disclosed method 100 may beimplemented in most current mills without increasing operational costs.The method comprises dying natural fiber (e.g., black Modal fiber) andpolyester fiber (e.g., Repreve) as fibers, rather than the yarn or thefabric being dyed and/or colored at a later step (101). These coloredfibers are then placed in a picking line, and delivered into a blower toclean the fibers and to mix them together (102). The mixed fibers thengo through a carding process to remove any extraneous materials, such ascotton seeds, unwanted fibers, or any other waste (103). The fibers arethen sent to a drawing room or draw frame to create a single ropecomprising both types of fibers (104). The combined fiber ropes then gothrough a spinning process to form yarns (105). Manufacturers may useany suitable spinning process, including open end or ring spinning.Determination of which spinning method to use will depend on the desiredlook and weight of the final fabric. Finally, the yarns are knit orwoven into a fabric (106).

As previously described, the yarns used to make a fabric may beidentical such that a single yarn is used to make a fabric, or the yarnsmay have different polyester fiber to natural fiber ratios. It ispreferable that a certain portion of the yarns used to make the fabric(e.g., warp yarns discussed above) have greater than 50% natural-woodfiber, and, preferably, a warp-yarn ratio of approximately 65%/35%natural fiber to polyester fiber and a weft-yarn ratio of at least 65%polyester fiber.

Although the invention has been disclosed with reference only topresently preferred embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that various modifications can be made without departing fromthe invention. The specification and figures are, accordingly, to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. As such,the present invention is defined only by the following claims andrecited limitations.

1. A method comprising: placing colored or dyed natural fibers andcolored or dyed polyester fibers in a picking line; creating a pluralityof combined ropes consisting essentially of the colored or dyed naturalfibers and the colored or dyed polyester fibers; and spinning theplurality of combined ropes into yarns.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the polyester fiber comprises recycled polyester fiber.
 3. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the natural fiber comprises natural woodfiber.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the yarn has a crockingstandard of at least 4.0.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein spinning theplurality of combined ropes into a yarn comprises spinning the pluralityof combined ropes into a plurality of warp yarns and a plurality of weftyarns; and the method further comprises joining the plurality of warpyarns and the plurality of weft yarns into a fabric.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, wherein the plurality of warp yarns have at least 50% naturalfiber.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the plurality of warp yarnshave at least 65% natural fiber.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein theplurality of weft yarns have at least 30% polyester fiber.
 9. The methodof claim 8, wherein the plurality of weft yarns have at least 35%polyester fiber.
 10. A yarn consisting essentially of: polyester fiber;and natural fiber, wherein the polyester fiber and the natural fiber aredyed as fibers before being joined into a yarn.
 11. The yarn of claim10, wherein the polyester fiber comprises recycled polyester fiber. 12.The yarn of claim 10, wherein the natural fiber comprises natural woodfiber.
 13. The yarn of claim 10, wherein the yarn has a crockingstandard of at least 4.0.
 14. The yarn of claim 10, wherein the yarnconsists of at least 50% natural fiber.
 15. The yarn of claim 14,wherein the yarn consists of at least 65% natural fiber.
 16. A fabricconsisting essentially of: a warp yarn consisting essentially of naturalfiber and polyester fiber; and a weft yarn consisting essentially ofpolyester fiber and natural fiber; wherein the warp yarn has at least50% natural fiber; and wherein the weft yarn has at least 60% polyesterfiber.
 17. The fabric of claim 16, wherein the polyester fiber comprisesrecycled polyester fiber.
 18. The fabric of claim 16, wherein thenatural fiber comprises natural wood fiber.
 19. The fabric of claim 16,wherein the warp yarn has at least 35% polyester fiber.
 20. The fabricof claim 16, wherein the weft yarn has at least 65% polyester fiber.